Brussels explains details of trade agreement with the US
European Commission keen to dispel concerns that the deal is being negotiated in secret
The European Commission has published a new series of documents detailing its plans in the negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the US in different industry areas, with pharmaceuticals being a key focus.
New factsheets on pharmaceuticals and intellectual property rights which were presented to the US negotiators in the last round of talks in October 2014 have now been published, with the Commission keen to dispel concerns that the deal is being negotiated in secret.
'We want to make it easier and cheaper to sell some US medicines on the EU market, and EU medicines in the US,' the pharmaceuticals factsheet said.
The EU also wants to work with the US in developing new pharma regulations. TTIP could foster the development and approval of generics of biological medicines, such as vaccines and insulin, the Commission explained in the factsheet. It also wants to improve and speed up the way generic medicines are approved, by working with the US on the rules governing what information must be submitted to EU and US regulators regarding marketing approvals.
The European Commission denied that TTIP would include a higher protection for IPR, which could lead to an increase in medicines prices and lower drugs’ accessibility.
'We will not negotiate any IP rules that put more strain on already stretched national health budgets,' the EC said.
Another area of concern that could have an impact on the sourcing of raw materials for the pharma sector is a deal over harmonising rules on food safety and animal and plant health, which could affect the manufacture of gelatin, for example. Numerous civil society organisations have come out against the negotiations, accusing the EU and the US that they will aim to lower the legal standards for health and environment on both sides of the Atlantic.
'We need to demystify and show what is in the agreement and what is not in there,' the EU trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said on releasing the documents on 7 January.